Areas of Study: Civics and Citizenship, The Arts, ICT, Communication and English Standards towards VELS Level 4
Other areas include: Interpersonal Development, Thinking Processes and Personal Learning
Unit Duration:
1x2 hour block of work each week over 10 weeks (approximately 1 term)
Week 1 - Introduction
Week 2 - Story-telling
Week 3 - Story-telling continued
Week 4 - Songs/Music
Week 5 - Dance/Ceremony
Week 6 - Art/Symbols
Week 7 - Incursion/Excursion
Week 8 - Performance Practice
Week 9 - Performance Practice
Week 10 - Celebration of Learning
Outline for each week:
Week 1 - Introduction
Students introduced to the learning technology 'WebeQuest' and how digital tools prepare students for twenty-first century learning and participation. Discussion on issues of ethics and copyright. What we mean by ethics. What we mean by copyright. Students introduced to eBlog, setting up, accessing, the weekly (daily if students are enthusiastic) use of the blog to record activities in relation to the WebQuest.
Discussion of culture and diversity, the importance of considering an 'other' view point. Students introduced to the concept of storytelling and what it may mean to preserve social knowledge? How can we do this without the use of technology?
Week 2 and 3 - Storytelling - different dreamtime stories
What does the Dreamtime mean to the Aboriginal people? Dreamtime centres on story-telling. Story-telling is closely linked to the Aboriginal way of life. It will be the student's task to understand the impact that the Dreamtime has upon the status of an Aboriginal person in Australia today.
We all tell stories in ordinary day-to-day ways but what does it take to tell a story in a way that brings that story to life, that makes characters talk and sing, that transports a listener to that place in their imagination where the story entrances, entertains and inspires?
Click on the following link 'The Art of Storytelling' for clues on how to use storytelling during this activity. Click on Australian Storytelling to understand more fully the Aboriginal perspective on storytelling.
Week 4 - Songs/Music
Songs are an integral part of every society. Music and song writing is an ancient custom practiced by many cultures. How does aboriginal culture use music to tell stories? Does western culture tell stories through their music as well? If so, how is this done? What type of stories can you think of? Listen to some protest songs to see if you can understand the message contained?Click on this link and hear how people have used music and song writing to get their strory understood to the society of its day. Go to protest songsand you can read lyrics from many civil rights and anti-war movements prevalent during the nineteen-sixties and early nineteen-seventees. Also read the list of protest songs written about and by Australia's indigenous songwriters for further ideas.
Please note: This information is of general resource for teachers - another way to bring a different aspect to the topic of music - this is not primarily part of the focus of this WebQuest at the present time. Great Indigenous Protest Songs The treatment of our original inhabitants has raised the ire of many songwriters including many non-indigenous writers.
‘Solid Rock', Goanna 1982
At first listen, a thumping Oz-rock beer song, but Goanna subtly insinuated a deconstruction of "terra nullius"; and did so with a chorus that's still bellowed along-with in front bars around the nation today.
‘Blackfella/Whitefella', The Warumpi Band 1985
The mixed race Warumpi Band made history in 1983 with the first rock single in an Aboriginal - the Luritja-sung ‘Jailanguru Pakarnu'. But their most famous tune was 1985's ‘Blackfella/Whitefella', a classic later covered by Powderfinger in 1996.
‘Beds Are Burning', Midnight Oil 1987
"The time has come to say fair's fair," declared Peter Garrett, in his pre-parliamentary life, pithily summing up the simple principle behind land rights disputes.
‘Treaty', Yothu Yindi 1991
"Well I heard it on the radio / and I saw it on the television" sang Mandawuy Yunupingu in response to the 1988 Mabo ruling on Native Title, impatiently waiting for a true ruling to return land to its original owners. We're still waiting...
‘Took The Children Away', Archie Roach 1992
In broad, emotional brushstrokes, Roach summed up the experience of The Stolen Generation. As children forcibly removed from their families in the 50s, Roach and his wife Ruby Hunter knew the truth of the matter. The teacher can YouTube these songs if so desired.
Week 5 - Dance/Ceremony
Oral traditions include the use of story telling through song and dance. These forms of Oral Traditions help to pass on specific cultural practises and values, language and laws, histories and family relationships. Some of the traditional ways to share oral histories are on message sticks, by storytelling through songs, dance and mime. Today Aborigianl oral traditions are expressed in many other ways. Through the visual arts and drama productions, in contemporary songs, in poetry, on the radio or film, on television or video, even through computers and CDs.
There are many different types of oral histories and they all relate to The Dreaming in different ways. Some oral histories are about teaching laws, rules and cultural practises. Others teach about peoples' lives and personal stories. Others share how life was created and how the land and seas and waterways were formed. Oral Traditions come under many names - oral histories, creation stories, Dreaming stories, biographies, Aboriginal stories etc. Oral traditions were - and are - continuing to be passed down from generation to generation in various forms. One Dreaming story, for example, may have been passed down through storytelling through specific artwork, a dance or a song.
Week 6 - Art and Symbols
Traditionally, Aboriginal artisits are only permitted to portray images of Jukurrpa that belong to them either by birth right, familial entitlement or are ceremonially acqured. Jukurrpa is an Aborigianl word used by the Warlpiri people and other language groups in central Australia. It means "Dreaming".
Jukurrpa is about:
- Aboriginal religion, law and moral systems
- the past, the present and the future
- the creation period when ancestral beings created the world as it is now
- the relationship between people, plants, animals and the physical features of the land
- the knowledge of how these relationships came to be, what they mean and how they need to be maintained in daily life and in ceremony.
Traditional symbols are an essential part of much contemporary Aboriginal art. Aboriginal peoples have long artistic traditions within which they use conventional designs and symbols. These designs when applied to any surface, whether on the body of a person taking part in a ceremony or on a shield, have the power to transform the object to one with religious significance and power. Through the use of designs inherited from ancestors, artists continue their connections to country and the Dreaming. Click on the following link for more information.
Week 7 - Excursion/Incursion
Invite the Aboriginal Elder - Murrandindi to talk specifically about the Dreamtime in relation to the three main themes of the WebQuest, such as, Story-telling, Songs/Music and Dance, and Art and Symbolism in indigenous Art.
Although our lesson looked at inviting Murrandindi into the classroom, there is the option to take the class on an excursion to Healseville Santuary to hear him speak in the natural setting of the Sanctuary.
Aboriginal Elder Murrandindi can be contacted via the Healsville Sanctuary, Healesville, Victoria (03) 5957 2800.
Week 8 and 9 - Collaboration and Consolidation of student work
Students will work within their workgroups to design and create a performance piece to be shown in Week 10. Ensure that students take the initiative to delegate tasks to each group member and that by the end of Week 8 they are able to present you with a brainstormed storyboard of their ideas. By Week 9 groups should be well under way in their preparations for their presentation and practicing. Ensure that students that seem to require more time have access over the week outside of this allocated time to complete their task.
Week 10 - Celebration/Performance
Recreate your classroom into an Aboriginal ceremonial site, large circular space with a ‘campfire’ in the middle. Create atmosphere by hanging Aboriginal artworks around the room and playing traditional music in the background. Emphasise that this is a time for celebration of the students’ work and achievement over the past 10 weeks. At the end of the presentations ask the students to complete a self-evaluation form in regards to the WebQuest. See Week 10 in the Evaluation Page for an example self evaluation you may like your students to complete.
Please note: This celebration should be conducted with the upmost respect for the traditions of the Aboriginal people. It is to be seen as a celebration of their culture that has been explored throughout the students work.
Major Assessment – Weekly Blog entries Using a blog space created from www.blogspot.com, students will keep an ongoing diary of their investigations about the Dreamtime. In their weekly entries they will highlight what web pages they visit (they are welcome to visit other sites not provided by teacher to show independent learning and research skills), what information they are looking for (for example: what importance does kinship play in the tribe, how does a hunter find food or water in the desert), and other interesting facts that they come across in their investigations. Some ideas: If their quest is to become an expert in the knowledge of the dreamtime as a child (or elder, songman, hunter etc), how do the Dreamtime stories explain the roles, rights, responsibilities of a child within that culture? The students could relate this to stories that have been given them within their family (traditional stories) and they can explain how they are important to their family or their culture (why did their parents tell them this etc?). The students can also explain the importance of story telling in all cultures (western/aboriginal) and how they can see the relationship to such stories (that stories tell us about different values, rights and responsibilities etc).
The blog is done primarily outside of the schedualed class time, as to foster the reflction and evaluation of information that the students have gathered over the week’s lesson. The teacher has the opportunity to evaluate the blog as a form of ongoing assessment for this integrated unit of work.
Please see example rubric in the Evaluation Page to identify how this blog will be assessed.
VELS REFERENCES:
Students will endeavour to move toward a Level 4 Standard across various VELS domains:
At Level 4:
- Learning in the Arts draws on the arts disciplines of Dance, Drama, Media, Music, and Visual Arts individually and in combination. - As a major focus toward Level 4, incorporated in this WebQuest, students begin to explore the interdisciplinary nature of arts disciplines by making installations that incorporate a number of Visual Arts forms and creating performances that include combinations of Music, Dance and Drama, and/or by combining visual and performance arts forms. - This WebQuest allow students to develop skills, knowledge and understanding relevant to specific arts disciplines with increasing competence.
Civics and Citizenship – Towards Level 4
Civic knowledge and understanding
- Students are able to explain the concept of multiculturalism, cultural diversity and describe the contribution of various cultural groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, to Australian identity.
Community engagement
- Students demonstrate an understanding that there are different viewpoints on an issue, and contribute to group and class decision making.
Communication – Toward Level 4
Listening, viewing and responding
- In relation to the WebQuest, students ask clarifying questions about ideas and information they listen to and view. - They develop interpretations of the content and provide reasons for them. - They describe the purpose of a range of communication strategies, including non-verbal strategies, and evaluate their effectiveness for different audiences.
Presenting
- Students are asked to summarise and organise ideas and information, logically and clearly in a range of presentations (blog, weekly activities and final group presentations). - They identify the features of an effective presentation and adapt elements of their own presentations to reflect them. - Using provided criteria, they evaluate the effectiveness of their own and others’ presentations.
English – Toward Level 4
Writing
- Students produce, in print and electronic forms, a variety of texts for different purposes using structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience and context of the writing. - They employ a variety of strategies for writing, including note-making, planning, editing and whole class discussion to evaluate the writing process.
Speaking and listening
- Students plan, rehearse and make presentations for different purposes. - They adjust their speaking to take account of context, purpose and audience, and vary tone, volume and pace of speech to create or emphasise meaning. - When listening to spoken texts, they identify the main idea and supporting details and summarise them for others. - They identify opinions offered by others, propose other relevant viewpoints and extend ideas in a constructive manner.
Information and Communications Technology – Toward Level 4
- Students use ICT tools and techniques that support the organisation and analysis of concepts, issues and ideas and that allow relationships to be identified and inferences drawn from them. - They document in their blog how these visualising thinking strategies help them to understand concepts and relationships.
ICT for communicating
- Students use blogs, websites and frequently asked question facilities to acquire from, or share information with, peers and known and unknown experts. - When blogging, they successfully attach files and they apply protocols for sending and receiving electronic information and successfully upload their work to a protected public online space. - Using recommended search engines, students refine their search strategies to locate information quickly and evaluate the integrity of the located information based on its accuracy and the reliability of the web host.
Interpersonal Development – Toward Level 4
Working in teams
- Students work effectively in teams and take on a variety of roles to allocate and complete tasks of varying length and complexity. - Students accept responsibility for their role and tasks. - They provide feedback to others and evaluate their own and the team’s performance.
Personal Learning – Toward Level 4
The individual learner
- Students seek and respond to teacher feedback to develop their content knowledge and understanding. - They identify and explain how different perspectives and attitudes can affect learning and negotiate learning improvement goals and justify the choices they make about their own learning.
Managing personal learning
- Students develop and implement plans to complete short-term and long-term tasks within timeframes set by the teacher, utilising appropriate resources. - They describe task progress and achievements, suggesting how outcomes may have been improved and persist when experiencing difficulty with learning tasks. - Students seek and use learning support when needed from peers, teachers and other adults.
Thinking Processes – Toward Level 4
Reasoning, processing and inquiry
- Students develop their own questions for investigation, collect relevant information from a range of sources and make judgments about its worth. - They use the information they collect to develop concepts, solve problems or inform decision making.
Creativity
- Students use creative thinking strategies to generate imaginative solutions when solving problems. - They demonstrate creativity in their thinking in a range of contexts and test the possibilities of concrete and abstract ideas generated by themselves and others.
Reflection, evaluation and metacognition
- Students use a broad range of thinking processes and tools, and reflect on and evaluate their effectiveness. - They articulate their thinking processes and document changes in their ideas and beliefs over time through their personal blogs.
Title: Dreamstories
Authors: Louise Huesmann and David Husk
Intended Level: Level 4 - Grades 5 and 6
Areas of Study: Civics and Citizenship, The Arts, ICT, Communication and English Standards towards VELS Level 4
Other areas include: Interpersonal Development, Thinking Processes and Personal Learning
Unit Duration:
1x2 hour block of work each week over 10 weeks (approximately 1 term)
Week 1 - Introduction
Week 2 - Story-telling
Week 3 - Story-telling continued
Week 4 - Songs/Music
Week 5 - Dance/Ceremony
Week 6 - Art/Symbols
Week 7 - Incursion/Excursion
Week 8 - Performance Practice
Week 9 - Performance Practice
Week 10 - Celebration of Learning
Outline for each week:
Week 1 - Introduction
Students introduced to the learning technology 'WebeQuest' and how digital tools prepare students for twenty-first century learning and participation. Discussion on issues of ethics and copyright. What we mean by ethics. What we mean by copyright. Students introduced to eBlog, setting up, accessing, the weekly (daily if students are enthusiastic) use of the blog to record activities in relation to the WebQuest.
Discussion of culture and diversity, the importance of considering an 'other' view point. Students introduced to the concept of storytelling and what it may mean to preserve social knowledge? How can we do this without the use of technology?
Week 2 and 3 - Storytelling - different dreamtime stories
What does the Dreamtime mean to the Aboriginal people? Dreamtime centres on story-telling. Story-telling is closely linked to the Aboriginal way of life. It will be the student's task to understand the impact that the Dreamtime has upon the status of an Aboriginal person in Australia today.We all tell stories in ordinary day-to-day ways but what does it take to tell a story in a way that brings that story to life, that makes characters talk and sing, that transports a listener to that place in their imagination where the story entrances, entertains and inspires?
Click on the following link 'The Art of Storytelling' for clues on how to use storytelling during this activity.
Click on Australian Storytelling to understand more fully the Aboriginal perspective on storytelling.
Week 4 - Songs/Music
Songs are an integral part of every society. Music and song writing is an ancient custom practiced by many cultures. How does aboriginal culture use music to tell stories? Does western culture tell stories through their music as well? If so, how is this done? What type of stories can you think of? Listen to some protest songs to see if you can understand the message contained?Please note: This information is of general resource for teachers - another way to bring a different aspect to the topic of music - this is not primarily part of the focus of this WebQuest at the present time.
Great Indigenous Protest Songs
The treatment of our original inhabitants has raised the ire of many songwriters including many non-indigenous writers.
‘Solid Rock', Goanna 1982
At first listen, a thumping Oz-rock beer song, but Goanna subtly insinuated a deconstruction of "terra nullius"; and did so with a chorus that's still bellowed along-with in front bars around the nation today.
‘Blackfella/Whitefella', The Warumpi Band 1985
The mixed race Warumpi Band made history in 1983 with the first rock single in an Aboriginal - the Luritja-sung ‘Jailanguru Pakarnu'. But their most famous tune was 1985's ‘Blackfella/Whitefella', a classic later covered by Powderfinger in 1996.
‘Beds Are Burning', Midnight Oil 1987
"The time has come to say fair's fair," declared Peter Garrett, in his pre-parliamentary life, pithily summing up the simple principle behind land rights disputes.
‘Treaty', Yothu Yindi 1991
"Well I heard it on the radio / and I saw it on the television" sang Mandawuy Yunupingu in response to the 1988 Mabo ruling on Native Title, impatiently waiting for a true ruling to return land to its original owners. We're still waiting...
‘Took The Children Away', Archie Roach 1992
In broad, emotional brushstrokes, Roach summed up the experience of The Stolen Generation. As children forcibly removed from their families in the 50s, Roach and his wife Ruby Hunter knew the truth of the matter. The teacher can YouTube these songs if so desired.
Week 5 - Dance/Ceremony
Oral traditions include the use of story telling through song and dance. These forms of Oral Traditions help to pass on specific cultural practises and values, language and laws, histories and family relationships. Some of the traditional ways to share oral histories are on message sticks, by storytelling through songs, dance and mime. Today Aborigianl oral traditions are expressed in many other ways. Through the visual arts and drama productions, in contemporary songs, in poetry, on the radio or film, on television or video, even through computers and CDs.
Week 6 - Art and Symbols
Traditionally, Aboriginal artisits are only permitted to portray images of Jukurrpa that belong to them either by birth right, familial entitlement or are ceremonially acqured. Jukurrpa is an Aborigianl word used by the Warlpiri people and other language groups in central Australia. It means "Dreaming".
Jukurrpa is about:
- Aboriginal religion, law and moral systems
- the past, the present and the future
- the creation period when ancestral beings created the world as it is now
- the relationship between people, plants, animals and the physical features of the land
- the knowledge of how these relationships came to be, what they mean and how they need to be maintained in daily life and in ceremony.
Traditional symbols are an essential part of much contemporary Aboriginal art. Aboriginal peoples have long artistic traditions within which they use conventional designs and symbols. These designs when applied to any surface, whether on the body of a person taking part in a ceremony or on a shield, have the power to transform the object to one with religious significance and power. Through the use of designs inherited from ancestors, artists continue their connections to country and the Dreaming. Click on the following link for more information.
Week 7 - Excursion/Incursion
Although our lesson looked at inviting Murrandindi into the classroom, there is the option to take the class on an excursion to Healseville Santuary to hear him speak in the natural setting of the Sanctuary.
Aboriginal Elder Murrandindi can be contacted via the Healsville Sanctuary, Healesville, Victoria (03) 5957 2800.
Excursions to Healesville Sanctuary can be arranged. Please visit www.zoo.org.au/Healesville/Learning_Experiences for more information.
Week 8 and 9 - Collaboration and Consolidation of student work
Students will work within their workgroups to design and create a performance piece to be shown in Week 10.Ensure that students take the initiative to delegate tasks to each group member and that by the end of Week 8 they are able to present you with a brainstormed storyboard of their ideas.
By Week 9 groups should be well under way in their preparations for their presentation and practicing.
Ensure that students that seem to require more time have access over the week outside of this allocated time to complete their task.
Week 10 - Celebration/Performance
Recreate your classroom into an Aboriginal ceremonial site, large circular space with a ‘campfire’ in the middle. Create atmosphere by hanging Aboriginal artworks around the room and playing traditional music in the background.Emphasise that this is a time for celebration of the students’ work and achievement over the past 10 weeks.
At the end of the presentations ask the students to complete a self-evaluation form in regards to the WebQuest. See Week 10 in the Evaluation Page for an example self evaluation you may like your students to complete.
Please note: This celebration should be conducted with the upmost respect for the traditions of the Aboriginal people. It is to be seen as a celebration of their culture that has been explored throughout the students work.
Major Assessment – Weekly Blog entries Using a blog space created from www.blogspot.com, students will keep an ongoing diary of their investigations about the Dreamtime.
In their weekly entries they will highlight what web pages they visit (they are welcome to visit other sites not provided by teacher to show independent learning and research skills), what information they are looking for (for example: what importance does kinship play in the tribe, how does a hunter find food or water in the desert), and other interesting facts that they come across in their investigations.
Some ideas:
If their quest is to become an expert in the knowledge of the dreamtime as a child (or elder, songman, hunter etc), how do the Dreamtime stories explain the roles, rights, responsibilities of a child within that culture? The students could relate this to stories that have been given them within their family (traditional stories) and they can explain how they are important to their family or their culture (why did their parents tell them this etc?). The students can also explain the importance of story telling in all cultures (western/aboriginal) and how they can see the relationship to such stories (that stories tell us about different values, rights and responsibilities etc).
The blog is done primarily outside of the schedualed class time, as to foster the reflction and evaluation of information that the students have gathered over the week’s lesson. The teacher has the opportunity to evaluate the blog as a form of ongoing assessment for this integrated unit of work.
Please see example rubric in the Evaluation Page to identify how this blog will be assessed.
VELS REFERENCES:
Students will endeavour to move toward a Level 4 Standard across various VELS domains:
At Level 4:
Standards information has been sourced from the web page: http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/
– Towards Level 4
- As a major focus toward Level 4, incorporated in this WebQuest, students begin to explore the interdisciplinary nature of arts disciplines by making installations that incorporate a number of Visual Arts forms and creating performances that include combinations of Music, Dance and Drama, and/or by combining visual and performance arts forms.
- This WebQuest allow students to develop skills, knowledge and understanding relevant to specific arts disciplines with increasing competence.
– Toward Level 4
- They develop interpretations of the content and provide reasons for them.
- They describe the purpose of a range of communication strategies, including non-verbal strategies, and evaluate their effectiveness for different audiences.
- They identify the features of an effective presentation and adapt elements of their own presentations to reflect them.
- Using provided criteria, they evaluate the effectiveness of their own and others’ presentations.
– Toward Level 4
- They employ a variety of strategies for writing, including note-making, planning, editing and whole class discussion to evaluate the writing process.
- They adjust their speaking to take account of context, purpose and audience, and vary tone, volume and pace of speech to create or emphasise meaning.
- When listening to spoken texts, they identify the main idea and supporting details and summarise them for others.
- They identify opinions offered by others, propose other relevant viewpoints and extend ideas in a constructive manner.
– Toward Level 4
- They document in their blog how these visualising thinking strategies help them to understand concepts and relationships.
- When blogging, they successfully attach files and they apply protocols for sending and receiving electronic information and successfully upload their work to a protected public online space.
- Using recommended search engines, students refine their search strategies to locate information quickly and evaluate the integrity of the located information based on its accuracy and the reliability of the web host.
– Toward Level 4
- Students accept responsibility for their role and tasks.
- They provide feedback to others and evaluate their own and the team’s performance.
– Toward Level 4
- They identify and explain how different perspectives and attitudes can affect learning and negotiate learning improvement goals and justify the choices they make about their own learning.
- They describe task progress and achievements, suggesting how outcomes may have been improved and persist when experiencing difficulty with learning tasks.
- Students seek and use learning support when needed from peers, teachers and other adults.
– Toward Level 4
- They use the information they collect to develop concepts, solve problems or inform decision making.
- They demonstrate creativity in their thinking in a range of contexts and test the possibilities of concrete and abstract ideas generated by themselves and others.
- They articulate their thinking processes and document changes in their ideas and beliefs over time through their personal blogs.